AN INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEM FOR WAVE MEASUREMENTS, RECORDING AND ANALYSIS

H.G. Farmer, D.D. Ketchutn

Abstract

For the instrumentation system to be described, it was required that the system detect the sea surface accurately, be flexible in dynamic range, be able to detect and record at least six wave records simultaneously, be able to record the data at a station remote from the detectors, and be able to convert the data from analogue to digital form for analysis by electronic computers. Two types of wave measurements were required, the wave elevation and the wave slope. Resistance wire detectors were used and the theory of their operation is presented. The data acquisition and reduction system utilize recently developed telemetry techniques. Raw data storage is on magnetic tape using an inexpensive tape recorder and the digital data storage utilizes punched paper tape. The resistance wires have proven most satisfactory for small and large waves. The data acquisition and reduction system is sufficiently general that it should have application to other type investigations.